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The first British royal steam yacht, appropriately named Victoria & Albert, was laid down in November 1842 as a direct result of Queen Victoria's embarrassingly slow journey to Scotland the previous August; she had gone on the old Royal George, built in 1817, but was overtaken by so many steamships en route that the Queen decided she must have her own steam yacht without delay. Built at Pembroke Dock to the design of Sir William Symonds, the new Victoria & Albert displaced 1,034 tons and measured 225 feet in length with a 33 foot beam (59 feet at the paddle-boxes). Paddle-driven by a Maudslay engine, the yacht could steam at 11 knots and the Queen declared her "a beautiful vessel, with splendid accommodation." Proving an instant success, the yacht allowed the Queen to travel about her kingdom and to visit neighbouring states with a hitherto undreamt of ease and comfort, and the only reason for the yacht's premature replacement in 1854-55 was that the Queen's young family needed something larger to accommodate them.

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